Reviewed by USGSChina90y ago
M5.5 earthquake 291 km SW of Xining, China
Tuesday, November 16, 1937, 22:28:10 UTC · 34.888°N, 99.336°E
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 291 km SW of Xining, China on Tuesday, November 16, 1937, 22:28:10 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.7 on February 12, 1937.
- Magnitude
- 5.5
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
2 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/6 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 5 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
774 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Indian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
15 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 12 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8Southern Qinghai, ChinaJanuary 7, 1937 · 151 km W of this epicenter
- 6.5296 km NE of Qamdo, ChinaAugust 25, 1919 · 186 km S of this epicenter
- 6.3Southern Qinghai, ChinaJuly 26, 1935 · 241 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.275 km WNW of Xining, ChinaApril 12, 1921 · 260 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.1Southern Qinghai, ChinaApril 28, 1915 · 253 km W of this epicenter
- 6.1Southern Qinghai, ChinaMay 5, 1915 · 270 km W of this epicenter
- 5.9132 km SW of Linxia Chengguanzhen, ChinaDecember 6, 1931 · 242 km E of this epicenter
- 5.8Qinghai-Sichuan border region, ChinaApril 28, 1930 · 247 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 10,126 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1921M6.2
Ningxia
12 Apr 1921 · 260 km away
10,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1819M5.8
Qinghai Province
24 Feb 1819 · 300 km away · intensity VII
126 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1893M5.5
Qinghai Province
1 Jun 1893 · 293 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1937M7.5
Qinghai Province
7 Jan 1937 · 172 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.